Practically all vehicle suspensions now in use employ either leaf springs or coil springs, and both of these types of springs have serious limitations. In coil spring suspensions, where the spring is flexed along a rectilinear axis, shock absorbers are required and these wear out quickly because of the free flexing action of the spring. Leaf spring suspensions are still in common use, but they require shackle connection with the frame and in practically all cases also require shock absorbers to dampen flexing vibrations.
In most of the above types of suspensions (coil and leaf spring) radius rods are required to hold the axle in predetermined position and to control braking torque or power torque, or both. My improved suspension eliminates the need for radius rods and practically eliminates the need for shock absorbers.
My invention includes a basic component which may be used singly for a single wheel supported on a stub axle, or in pairs for a pair of wheels supported on a single axle, or in multiples for wheels supported on double axles. Therefore, my invention provides simple construction which readily adapts itself to mass production.
The drag of friction has been long considered a detriment in vehicle design, and yet my invention makes good use of such drag, much the same as use is made thereof in leaf spring constructions wherein it is preferred that the leaves remain unlubricated so that they frictionally drag one over the other. However, my invention eliminates the relatively costly leaf springs, and their shackle connections to the vehicle frame, by disposing a coil spring, which normally flexes along a rectilinear axis, into a curved conduit. The convolutions of the spring engage the inner wall surface of the conduit and thus axially flex the coil spring to follow the curvature of the conduit. Therefore, force applied to either end of the spring, will cause the convolutions to frictionally drag over the conduit wall surface to oppose free flexing of the spring along its now-curved axis.